Different Types of Snoring: Why they Occur & How to Diagnose?

If you snore at night, it is an indication that you are not sleeping well. This happens as your body cannot move air freely through the nose and throat because of a partial closing of your upper airway, thus resulting in snoring. Depending on the causes of airway collapse, there are four different types of snoring.

And to effectively combat them, it is crucial to understand what makes you snore. So here’s a look at the types of snoring, their causes, symptoms and treatments. Have a look!

The Different Types of Snoring:

Nose-based Snoring

Blockage in the nostrils due to a deviated septum or some physical obstruction may lead to nose-based snoring.

Other causes for this type of snoring include pet and dust allergies, nose stiffness, cold or using certain types of medication.

Nasal snoring can be treated in several ways depending on what causes it:

• Treating a deviated septum requires one to undergo surgery
• If a dust allergy causes snoring, keeping your home neat and tidy will cure it.
• Similarly, quitting smoking or using nasal dilator strips or a nasal rinse is effective against nose-based snoring caused by cold or stiffness.

Mouth-based Snoring

Mouth-based snoring is the process of inhaling air through the mouth instead of the nose while sleeping. If you can’t breathe via your nose at night due to blockage, it causes you to breathe through the mouth, resulting in a vibration of the tissues and hence snoring. Blocked nasal passages, enlarged tonsils, or weak palatal tissue may also cause close-mouthed snoring.

Essentially, a nasal snorer has a slight chance of snoring with the mouth closed if his nasal passages get severely blocked. Breathing via the mouth can lead to infections as the nose is not filtering the air that’s passing through.

In order to avoid snoring through the nose with a closed mouth, one can use devices such as adhesive tape specially designed for this purpose or mouth guards that can help you keep your mouth closed.

Tongue-based Snoring

This tongue-based snoring occurs because the tongue gets too relaxed, mainly when we lie down on our back, thus blocking the airflow into the lungs. Because of this, it becomes difficult to breathe.

Tongue-based snoring may occur in people who drink alcohol or use sleep medication. Excessive fat around the neck may also be a cause of tongue-based snoring.

Anti-snoring pillows and backpacks are helpful ways of preventing this kind of snoring. They keep you on your side, preventing you from turning on your back, and avoiding difficulty in breathing.

Snoring mouthpieces or mandibular advancement devices (MADs) are specially designed to be used as a remedy for tongue snorers. It helps move your jaw forward, thus preventing the tongue from blocking the back of your throat and ensuring uninterrupted breathing.

Throat-based Snoring

Lastly, we have throat-based snoring, which is the loudest and most dangerous. It is caused as a result of sleep apnea, a condition where the person stops breathing several times during the night in his sleep. And this condition occurs when the muscles and soft tissues in the throat area get too relaxed. When you stop breathing, you may feel choked or begin to cough in an attempt to open up your airway. This may even cause you to wake up from your sleep.

It occurs in every sleeping position and can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke if left untreated.

Sleep apnea needs medical attention immediately, and the most common treatment methods are CPAP therapy, UPAP therapy and UAS therapy.

How to Diagnose Your Snoring

Below are the symptoms that can help you identify which type of snorer you are:

Looking at the symptoms above will give you an idea about the type of snorer you are. While the other three types are not serious and can be cured easily, it is throat-based snoring that you really need to worry about.

Take the home sleep test to identify your risk levels of sleep apnea, and get the help of a sleep coach to help treat it.